Friday, January 9, 2009

thyroid cancer

Thyroid cancer effects about 20,000 new cases of it every year. Females are more likely to develop thyroid cancer than males. While it can effect people of any age group, it is most likely to effect someone in their 30’s and increase as they get older. It can be very discrete and difficult to detect in a gland.

There are many symptoms of thyroid cancer. Most of the symptoms are quite common and can easily be confused and mixed with other problems. Neck pain and hoarseness will occur in patients with thyroid cancer. There could be a lot of other explanations of these symptoms so it is best to talk with your doctor.

There are four different types of thyroid cancer, and some are more common than others. Papillary thyroid cancer effects about 78% of all thyroid cancer patients, which is by far the most common kind. The other three kinds of thyroid cancer are follicular, medullary, and anaplastic.

If the thyroid cancer is caught, they can most likely be cured. The most common kinds of thyroid cancer ( papillary and follicular) have the highest success rates in curing. They are typically treated with removal of the lobe that has the cancer on it. If you have to choose a type of cancer to have, this is the one you would want to pick because it has a 97% cure rate.

Medullary cancer in your thyroid is by far less common, but can be the hardest to try to cure. It requires the complete thyroid to be removed plus other lymph nodes on the front and the sides of your neck. The operation is much more aggressive than others.

Within six weeks after the thyroid has been removed, you will expect to undergo radioactive iodine treatment. All you will need to do is to take a simple pill which contains radioactive iodine. You will want to avoid contact with other people for a couple of days so that they are not exposed to the radioactive materials. It will take care of any other cancer it may find that was not already removed.

You will then make visits every six to twelve months just to make sure that you are taking the right dosage of thyroid hormone and to check to make sure that your tumor has not returned. The length of your return will get longer and longer as you keep going if everything seems to be ok.